Thursday 27 May 2010

Close... but no cigar...

Well.... apologies for not posting at least a little something last Sunday. We didn't land back in the UK until very late on Monday night / Tuesday morning and since then I've been just about the busiest I've ever been with three days in a row of no more than four hours sleep and so much to do from the moment I wake up till the moment I fall into bed about 20 hours later. It's mostly been exciting stuff, Martin and I have just delivered a great presentation on Marathon Talk to the European Sponsorship Association at the BOA, so we're largely talking good busy... I am having to keep my eyes open with match sticks though and am focusing on getting through the next 36 hours before a lovely long weekend chilling out with my amazing wife :)

Thanks so much for all your belief and positive comments over the build up to Lanzarote, during the race, and then over the days since I crossed the line. At points I've been moved to tears by the sheer weight of support... I must have received messages from 150+ people and it's been truly life changing, and I don't say that lightly! The thing is, I'm doing nothing that millions of other people don't do every single day, it's just that I talk about it... it seems silly to me then that I should receive so much benefit when others are facing up to the same challenges with little or no recognition or support. I've got my thinking cap on and am dreaming up ways to spread all that positive energy around a bit... you'll have to leave that with me for a while though ;)

I'll leave my final, Ironman race report to the weekend but I'll briefly answer the two most common questions now...

1) Is it REALLY your final official Ironman?

Definitely - 100%! I'm entered in The Outlaw on the 8th of August and will be looking to bow out of triathlon in style. Nottingham rather than Kona will be the final destination of this wonderful journey.

2) How do you feel about it?

Actually, a lot worse than I thought I would. Don't get me wrong, I'm managing to keep things in perspective and feel truly privileged to have had the opportunity to complete six Ironman events... and am really proud to be able to look back and honestly say I couldn't have given even one more heart beat of effort to the five year journey. It really is only a game and there are FAR more important things in life. The fact that I'm unlikely to ever reach the start line of the most iconic triathlon in the World leaves me feeling really sad though, and the added disappointment that a 3.31 run would have done the job is so disappointing.

Anyway, there you go... tune in next week for the gory details of my Lanzarote roller-coaster,

T

4 comments:

Daniel Weston said...

Thank you for the update. You sound really busy so being able to fit this in is appreciated. Can't wait for the details of your journey.

Liz said...

Well done for giving it your all. Following your progress has been inspirational to me!

Looking forward to reading the full report.

Rogier, Natalie, Rhys & Finley said...

Tom, as I said many times before you have been an inspiration to me. Literally from the first day I walked in to the circuit training class you did at Virgin; I cannot imagine how unfit I was and I undoubtely would be even worse today if it wasn't for your motivation and example. It has been an honour to train with you (however little it was) in the pool and I do feel gutted on your behalf that you did not make it to the illusive Kona. I am curious to find out what on earth you will direct all that drive, motivation, determination and enthusiasm to now the IM journey has come to an end.

Rogier

Tom said...

Thanks as always for the support... about to write the race report...